VW boss Herbert Diess caused a worldwide sensation with his e-car campaign. Now the engineer is working on the next product from the group.
Update from August 13, 1:02 p.m.: On Wednesday, VW boss Herbert Diess posted photos of his excursion on an e-mountain bike from the Group's own motorcycle brand Ducati on the LinkedIn career portal . The model called "MIG-S" made him curious. Therefore, he wanted to try it out on vacation, wrote the VW boss on his post.
VW boss goes into raptures - Ducati boss is relieved
The conclusion of the Wolfsburg Capo di Capi on the test drive on Lake Garda is of course positive. This Ducati is “technically top” and an “Italian beauty with great attention to detail”, enthused the otherwise rather sober manager. Diess is particularly impressed by the ability to adjust the seat height directly on the handlebars. The engineer was also happy with the performance. The e-bike made in Italy drives "almost like an enduro motorcycle".
On the internet, the trekking tour on the strictly limited and already sold out high-end bike (list price: 4581 euros) caused very different reactions. Ducati boss Claudio Domenicali, for example, was relieved. "I am very happy that you like the Ducati MIG-S," wrote Domenicali in the Diess-Post. This should make the future of the Italian motorcycle brand in the VW Group more secure.
Test object: The Ducati MIG-S e-bike above Lake Garda.
© LinkedIn / Herbert Diess
In an interview with the Handelsblatt in summer 2018, it sounded very different. Ducati needs "a plan for the future". Simply having Ducati as a motorcycle icon in the VW group was “not enough from an entrepreneurial point of view”, it was said two years ago.
VW test drive: users wonder about clean tires
Other LinkedIn users, on the other hand, expressed concrete wishes for future technical e-bike developments in the widespread VW group. The suggestions included an ultra-light drive or a recuperation brake so that the e-bike battery can also be recharged downhill.
However, the photos of the fire-red fun mobile caused some suspicion among users. The tires, commented one user, “stayed pretty clean” - quite “unlike the advertising photo on the Ducati website”.
Another user drew a comparison between VW and Tesla . “Board member VW”, it says in telegram style, “discovered (...) the bicycle, invented in the 19th century”. Tesla boss "Leon (sic!) Musk flies to Mars - 22nd century". This would mean "3 centuries" between the two companies.
VW boss Diess drives an e-car on vacation in Italy: users see "kidding"
Update: Monday, August 10th, 10:31 am: VW boss Herbert Diess has attracted a lot of attention in social networks and on the web with his e-car campaign. On Thursday, the 61-year-old set off for Italy with his daughter Caro in a fully electric ID.3. He wanted to prove that you can go on vacation with an electric car, wrote Diess on his LinkedIn profile.
The head of the world's largest car manufacturer probably didn't want to take too much risk. Because instead of going to the south or at least to the Adriatic Sea or Sardinia , Diess only drove to Lake Garda - and that from Munich too . The ID.3 was spotted in Malcesine on the east bank , reports the Teslamag web portal. With that, Diess would have covered a total of almost 400 kilometers. Many travelers who go on their summer vacation cover significantly longer distances.
VW: Corrosive comments on social networks
The mini-tour generates irritating comments on social networks . With a diesel and a full tank of fuel, writes a user, Diess would not only come to Lake Garda, but also back again. Others don't really trust the technology in the ID.3. A Facebook user asks whether an escort vehicle with engineers and mechanics was there. Another user thinks the short trip to Lake Garda is simply "total pissing off".
CHI LI HA VISTI? IL grande capo di #Volkswagen e la figlia Caro a spasso in #Italia con la nuova elettrica ID.3. Un viaggio tipo "cliente misterioso": 15 giorni per testare l'auto e la rete di ricarica italica. Se li incrociate, segnalate ... ⬇️https: //t.co/3VYhkpdKoP@VWGroup pic.twitter.com/w5ca7bcLDs
- Vaielettrico (@vaielettrico) August 7, 2020In his current LinkedIn post, Diess was nevertheless very satisfied with the tour over the Alps . “We arrived at our destination as planned and relaxed,” writes the engineer. People “keep looking curiously”, many have not yet seen the ID.3 live. After returning from vacation in Italy, Diess wants to publish a detailed report. The tour, which was declared an official test drive, has been causing nervousness among VW engineers in Wolfsburg (see initial report). The Stromer in Golf format comes onto the market in September after massive software problems.
First report from Friday, August 7th, 12.15 p.m .: - VW boss Herbert Diess loves the high-profile appearance. This applies to hardly any other topic as much as to e-mobility. Now the 61-year-old is going all-in for e-mobility in public. In the E-Auto ID.3, Diess has now set off from Munich on vacation in Italy.
With the tour over the Alps, the VW boss wants to prove that you can go on vacation today - despite all the tiresome discussions about charging options or ranges, writes Diess in a blog post on Facebook and the career portal LinkedIn. The manager lets the community know that the trip is an “official test drive. Means: The boss tests himself ".
VW: Vehicle testing by Diess makes VW engineers nervous
In the corporate headquarters in Wolfsburg , the unease about the vehicle testing in the wild is apparently quite large. It was reported to him that “the test makes some colleagues nervous when I test the vehicle intensively for two weeks”. There is no reason for that. The ID.3 made a “very good impression and received great grades” in all test drives, writes Diess.
And because he's already there, the VW boss is spreading a spirit of optimism in view of the market launch for the ID.3 planned for the beginning of September - including the exclamation mark: "This will be great!"
VW: ID3 test drive causes a wave of blasphemies in social networks - and a lot of encouragement
The enthusiasm of the top VW test driver is not unconditionally shared on social networks . According to a user on Facebook, he should "attach a caravan". Another blasphemed that, given the length of the route, Diess might be tempted to conquer the Brenner "with the car train".
Our #VW team in the # VWID3 #PopupStore # Munich will inform and advise interested parties about the fully electric vehicle until August 27th, 2020.
More information about this ➡️ https://t.co/8W21pJP9cp #eMobility #Aktionen #eAuto pic.twitter.com/dhG0a1KMfj
Other users, however, see the test drive quite positively. This , it is said in several posts, not only preaches the change to e-mobility, but also exemplifies it.
VW: Massive software problems with the ID.3 caused a delay
One thing is clear: the high-profile Italy tour can use the golf- sized e-car . Because the market launch of the ID.3 was overshadowed by massive problems in software development.
The ID.3 is in VW -Werk Zwickau built. In the meantime, however, several thousand vehicles had to be parked because of the software problems. But by now most of the bugs should have been fixed. The actually planned augmented reality (AR) function and the VW app store are not yet ready at the beginning. With AR, drivers receive additional information from the navigation system in the windshield. In addition, at the start there is probably no possibility of receiving updates via the mobile network - i.e. over-the-air. Ironically, the drivers of the car, with which a “new, dynamic era in the world of electromobility” was to begin (VW self-promotion), must therefore go to the workshop again - just like in the past.
